With specialized care comes specialized training.

We are busy preparing for our training event with the home care nurses and physical therapists, working hard to ensure that the clinicians will receive training in the most recent, evidence-based, patient-driven techniques for comprehensive cardiac rehabilitative care. Using national guidelines and peer-reviewed papers, we are working to determine the best, and most feasible, way to translate research into practice and modify outpatient cardiac rehabilitative into the home care setting. With our team of content experts at the VNSNY and NYULMC, we are planning to finalize and enroll the clinicians in the training in November. Throughout the process, we will be meeting with the nurses and physical therapists to hear their input from their field experience to ensure feasibility and effectiveness.

In order to design a patient-driven program, we are performing observations and interviews with patients in their homes.Engaging our patients, and their families and caretakers, in the design of our program is integral to its success. By listening to our patients’ stories and experiences, we are striving to build a program that will be catered towards their needs and goals. Traditional cardiac rehabilitation programs incorporate patient assessments at baseline, nutrition counseling, management of risk factors such as lipids, hypertension, smoking, diabetes, and weight, exercise training, and psychosocial issues. With the help of our patients, we are modifying these competencies so they can be effectively used in the home care setting.

With our Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, we launched phase 1 of our research study. In order to scientifically evaluate our program for home-based cardiac rehabilitation, we will be conducting a study to collect data and analyze our findings. This formalized evaluation process will allow us to evaluate and disseminate our findings in a scientific manner.